NYC Blockchain Community Evolution: 2023 and Beyond

Blockchain technology enables people to build decentralized applications as alternative solutions to the day-to-day infrastructure provided by institutions and other intermediaries. Web3 helps to bridge the gap between these applications and those who use them.

Unlike its predecessors, Web3 represents full ownership of one’s content, assets and identity. No institutions, no intermediaries, no third parties. Just you and the blockchain.

This assumption of ownership in this space also means that creating an ecosystem around blockchain applications requires proactive involvement in pushing the space forward. This is where the true builders differ from the speculators.

Ownership = Putting in the work

The community has played a crucial role in Web3 ecosystem development since the early days of the crypto era. Before Ethereum and the potential role of decentralized applications in crypto was still uncertain, a community formed around Bitcoin – the first “official” Bitcoin conference dates back to 2013. There is still a community of hardcore Bitcoin enthusiasts, many of them believe that Bitcoin reigns supreme over all other facets of crypto and blockchain applications.

It is worth mentioning that these maximalist groups differ from the Web3 community as a whole in that they are devoted to a particular asset, chain, protocol, etc., rather than an application-based ecosystem as a whole.

Web3 communities are decentralized and transparent by nature and adhere to the idea that there are as few barriers to entry as possible. Anyone can ultimately contribute to the space and help move it forward. As a result, projects in Web3 typically offer various incentives for greater participation and ownership through the community. Although it is a given in crypto that ‘code is law’, people are and will always be front and center when it comes to creating useful applications for the technology behind it.

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The strongest communities are formed when individuals step up and go above and beyond for their community, becoming pillars in the room through their actions and leadership. The more pillars a community has, the more productive the space becomes.

Let’s take a look at NYC’s Web3 community as an example.

Art Malkov has been a pillar of NYC’s Web3 community since 2016, when he founded BlockchainNYC, one of the most active blockchain meetups. There he helped put together events such as Bring your business to Blockchainwhich was covered by the Huffington Post and attended by blockchain natives and non-natives alike.

In addition to BlockchainNYC, Art was the visionary and mastermind of Blockchain Weekend The NYC initiative, organized in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). A sister event to BlockchainWeek, it has had over 50 events across the city in 2019 under its umbrella.

BlockchainWeekend was one of the largest ‘IRL’ initiatives for NYC’s Web3 community; it gathered support from NYC senators, politicians and the community as well as many Web3 projects and organizations such as Coingecko, Gemini, Coindesk and many more.

It is worth noting that this community work was done at a time when blockchain applications were still not fully developed and there was plenty of speculation and skepticism about the future of the industry. If it weren’t for the sustained efforts of the pillars of the Web3 community, things would probably stay the same.

Live events, such as meetups, are a great way to accelerate community development. People tend to form stronger opinions and convictions about something when they hear from and talk to other people who share similar interests; Humans are social creatures by nature, after all.

“We just want to spend our Monday nights with others who are as passionate about Crypto as we are. There are no guest speakers or panels on CryptoMondays. It’s just a place to go on Mondays and be with like-minded people.” Lou Kerner on forms CryptoMondays

Lou Kerner has also been a pillar of the NYC Web3 community in NYC. He founded CryptoMondays back in 2019 on a simple premise: to bring crypto together to hang out and talk crypto with each other simply.

If you live in NYC and want to meet other Web3 in a casual setting, check out CryptoMondays and their schedule of events.

BlockchainCenter started back in 2017 and was one of the first organizations to host live events for the Blockchain community here in the heart of NYC.

Today, EmpireDAO carries the torch as the ultimate Web3 coworking space in the Big Apple. At 190 Bowery, EmpireDAO is a 6-story space built for Web3 natives to feel at home. There are floors dedicated to artists, conferences, Solana projects and more. EmpireDAO embodies the spirit of decentralization and serves pretty good coffee too.

Watch Mike Fraietta’s Solana Breakpoint 2022 speech for more on EmpireDAO’s origin story.

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Web3 is growing and developing all the time, and the future looks bright. As mass adoption becomes more imminent and Web3 begins to bring in new users, a strong community becomes even more important. It all came full circle this past CryptoMonday, when Art Malkov was invited as a speaker for one campfire chat; he mentioned that “Web3 has evolved beyond the age of selling ideas and empty promises, and building great products has become far more important to consumers, investors and projects in today’s age.”

The good news is that the pillars are still here and busier than ever. Art Malkov has led projects such as Zilliqa and Iotex as their CMO and can now be found sharing his insights on panels at major conferences such as Benzinga’s Future of Crypto and the upcoming NFT NYC 2023.

CryptoMondays is doing better than ever, with over 30,000 members in over 60 cities worldwide! They continue to host social events for crypto enthusiasts every Monday night and don’t look like they plan to slow down anytime soon.

Anyone can say “I believe in the future of blockchain” and then buy crypto, hodl and sit on the sidelines, which is not a bad thing at all. But if this was the default action, there would be no Web3 space. People would become uninspired, space would become centralized, and these coins would look much less attractive on the market.

I’ll say it again – the future looks bright for Web3. As bleak as the SBF-FTX situation has been, the narrative has been quite positive for the future of crypto and blockchain.

At events like Benzinga’s Future of Crypto conference, there is a common understanding that the industry will only build back stronger and better than before, and everyone is eager to get their hands dirty and help the space by being a part of it. Politicians like Tom (bankless) Lumis Gillibrand show a positive view of the value of blockchain technology and the future of crypto here in the United States.

These factors suggest that the Web3 community has only grown larger recently and will continue to do so as more users come on board. In other words, if you want to get involved in Web3, there’s no better time to get started than now.